Community Briefs

Free writing workshop on 'Illness and Expression'

Sarah Roth, the current writer-in-residence with the local Hypatia-in-the-Woods, presents a free workshop on life writing from 2:30 to 4 p.m. Friday at the Shelton Timberland Library.

Roth is a writer and doctoral candidate in anthropology at John Hopkins University in Baltimore. She recently completed training as a genetic counselor and is working on an ethnographic project exploring women's narratives of cancer care.

Her writing workshop is called "Illness and Expression." Roth quotes author Virginia Woolf as saying that illness has been prevented from taking its place "with love and battle and jealousy among the prime themes of literature," and suggests that writers bring attention to their everyday embodied experiences as a path into literary experience.

"In this writing workshop, participants will be invited to consider their bodily experiences, past and present, as material for creative writing," Roth states. "Through several exercises, they will be invited to explore themes such as illness, intimacy, care and loss, bringing their experiences into the room and translating them into creative expression. At the end of the workshop, participants will be invited to share excerpts of writing in small groups."

Hypatia-in-the-Woods maintains a mission of providing a place where women can work solo, free of the distractions of family, employment and other demands on their time. It has provided residencies for more than 250 women since opening its doors and academies in all fields in 2009.